Third-Party Software

Software applications, libraries, plugins, or services developed by external vendors and integrated into an organization's systems or products, potentially introducing privacy and security risks. Third-party software includes: open-source libraries, commercial SaaS platforms, website plugins, mobile SDKs, analytics tools, advertising frameworks, and payment processing integrations. From a privacy perspective, third-party software can: collect personal data independently, transmit data to external servers, contain vulnerabilities compromising data security, track user behavior without obvious visibility, and create processor/subprocessor relationships requiring contractual agreements. Organizations should: maintain inventories of third-party software components, assess privacy impacts before integration, review vendors' privacy and security practices, understand what data third-party software collects and transmits, implement controls limiting data access, update third-party components regularly to address vulnerabilities, and disclose third-party software in privacy policies when it affects data processing. Open-source software presents unique challenges—no vendor contracts exist, but organizations remain responsible for secure, compliant implementation.